By Daniel Jackson | djackson@repub.com
U.S. Rep. Richard Neal recently bought Merriam-Webster dictionaries for all 435 members of the U.S. House.
In doing so, the Democrat from Springfield participated in a years-old practice on Capitol Hill of gifting items from members’ home districts.
Merriam-Webster, with its headquarters in Springfield, published the 12th edition of its dictionary in September, the first new version in more than 20 years, adding 5,000 words to a book weighing almost five pounds.
“I’ve always pointed out they have the last word on definition and word usage,” Neal said in an interview this week. “It might not improve the tenor around here, but I hope that it will improve the diction.”
Gifts of items from lawmakers’ districts, he said, is not unusual and “promotes a bit of comity.” It might be candy, or the jar of peach preserves from Arkansas that Neal said he held in his hand at one point as he spoke with a reporter.
At least historically, it’s not just lawmakers who have been recipients.
Benjamin West, the former superintendent of the House daily press gallery from 1969 to 1986, said in a 2005 interview that it was common for some items, such as freshly picked peaches or salmon from Alaska, to end up in the press gallery for reporters.
“Members took great pride in the product within their district, whether it was peaches, Vidalia onion, sockeye salmon, or something,” he said.
The House Ethics Manual — 446 pages of light reading — anticipates the practice, saying gifts between members of Congress are fine.
The manual also says lawmakers can accept goods made in their state, provided those items were given with the goal of promoting the state and are either displayed in their offices or distributed to visitors.
For Neal, the work of the dictionary’s lexicographers is worth celebrating.
“Any time that we get a chance to promote a hometown product of international standing, this is the one,” Neal said. “The professionals at Merriam-Webster couldn’t be any better. They are superb.”
Merriam-Webster did not reply to a request for comment.
Neal said he first used a Merriam-Webster dictionary in the second or third grade and claims it improved his reading skills.
These days, the former high school teacher said lexicography is an interest.
Social media, with its dropped Oxford commas and fragmented sentences, has contributed to how Americans talk to each other, he said. “The proper application of words is something that should be a substantive goal for all of us.”
Friends tease Neal he will “diagram sentences when people are talking,” which he said is unintentional). He said he will often try to use Merriam-Webster’s word of the day at some point in a sentence.
On Tuesday, that word was “umpteen,” Neal said, meaning very many.
Perhaps Neal didn’t receive umpteen words of praise for the dictionaries he handed out, but he said lawmakers did send him “some really nice notes.”
It even prompted a word of thanks while the House was in session from U.S. Rep. Mark Amodei, a Republican representing a district in Nevada.
“I thank the gentleman from Massachusetts for the dictionary that he sent to all of us who still believe in those things and not computers,” Amodei said while temporarily presiding over the House Feb. 10.
